OSIRIS-REx Science Processing and Operations Center (SPOC)

The (OSIRIS-REx) missions primary goal is an Earth return of regolith sample from a type-B near earth object (NEO) asteroid. The OSIRIS-REx mission will gather this sample through a spacecraft consisting of a science instrument suite, a touch-and-go sample acquisition mechanism (TAGSAM) and a sample return capsule (SRC). The spacecraft will rendezvous with the NEO, observe, characterize and map the asteroid, and finally descend, perform a touch-and-go maneuver, retrieve a regolith sample and depart from the asteroid. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will then navigate back towards Earth and jettison the SRC for a landing In the Utah desert. The objectives of the mission are to understand the origins of planetary materials and the initial stages of planetary formation; Identify the sources of organic compounds and other prebiotic chemicals that contributed to the emergence of life on earth; explore a NEO to gain a greater understanding of potential resources; and enable the long term prediction of the dynamics of NEOs that pose an impact hazard to Earth. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) manages the OSIRIS-REx Project for NASA. This Office provides overall direction to the OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator, Dr. Dante Lauretta, University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) n Tucson, AZ.